Just behind my house there's a footpath leading into the dark hemlock groves of Baxter Woods. When I want a little bit of "woods time" to relax, clear my head, and get some exercise, it's an easy decision to just head out there.

Most times I'm gone a lot longer than planned. Winding through the pleasant forest and imagining myself in some far off place. That's the real beauty and benefit of urban green spaces.

Baxter's Woods connects to Evergreen Cemetery, just across Stevens Avenue. For an extended walk (and most are as I said) I will head that way, meandering through the mounded graves on the gravel paths, pausing now and then to read a particular headstone that has caught my eye.

Invariably I end up at the duck pond in a quiet corner of Evergreen. Seems that many other folks do the same. And why not? It's beautiful spot. But more so, we all have many friends there: The ducks and geese.

I can lay in the pondside grass for hours (and often have) watching our feathered friends swim and splash about, honk and squawk, shuffling from pond to shore and back, preening, feeding, socializing. It's pure and natural therapy for the human soul, it is.

Sadly, today's news tells of a city plan to demolish the shed that houses our duck and goose friends through the winter. And then to move them to another location where they can be cared for.

The pond will be a decidedly empty place without them.

Our fine feathered friends at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland may soon be gone.

A new shed will be constructed, but it doesn't include a lean-to addition where the birds can shelter themselves. I'm not sure why. Seems an easy and relatively inexpensive fix.

But dig a bit further and you find that the city can't afford to pony up the money--some $5,000 to $8,000 annually--to care for the birds. That seems a real shame. I know municipal funds are tight, but I suspect Portland wastes that much money on less important stuff on a regular basis.

So what to do?

Scream and yell at the city? Take up a collection among local residents? Find a private donor or two with a big heart and pocketbook?

Dunno.

You got any ideas?